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Wednesday, June 10, 2015

Vatican City, 10 June 2015 (VIS) –
Illness, a common experience in the life of families from childhood
until advanced age, was the theme of the Pope's catechesis during
this week's Wednesday general audience. “The family has always been
the 'closest hospital'. And still, today, in many parts of the world,
the hospital is a privilege enjoyed by few, and is often far away.
Mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters and grandparents provide care and
help heal the sick”.

In the Gospel there are many encounters
between Jesus and the sick, and his commitment to caring for them.
Christ “presents himself publicly as one who fights against
sickness and who has come to cure man of every ill: ills of the
spirit and of the body”. The Pope remarked that the scene in the
Gospel of Mark – “that evening at sundown they brought to him all
who were sick or oppressed by demons” – is “truly moving. …
If I think of today's great cities, I ask myself, where are the doors
before which we can bring the sick, hoping they will be healed. Jesus
never withdrew from their care, He never passed them by, He never
turned away. And when a father or a mother, or even simply friends
brought an invalid before Him, for Him to touch and heal, He wasted
no time; healing came before the law, even sacred laws such as rest
on the Sabbath”.

Jesus sent His disciples to fulfil the
same task and He gave them the power to heal. “We must keep in mind
what He said to the disciples in the episode of the man born blind.
The disciples – with the blind man before them – debated about
who had sinned, him or his parents, to provoke his blindness. The
Lord said clearly: neither him nor his parents; 'but that the works
of God might be displayed in him'. And He healed him. Here is the
glory of God! Here is the task of the Church! To help the sick, not
to get lost in talk. To help, console, alleviate, always to be near:
this is her task”.

“The Church invites us to continual
prayer for our dear ones who are sick, and prayer for them must never
be lacking. Rather, we must pray more, both personally and as a
community. … Faced with sickness, difficulties can also arise in
the family as a result of human weakness. But in general illness
strengthens family bonds. And I think of how important it is to
educate children, starting from infancy, on the importance of
solidarity in times of sickness. An education that shelters them from
sensitivity to human sickness hardens the heart and anaesthetises the
young to the suffering of others, rendering them incapable of facing
up to suffering and living the experience of limits”.

“The weakness and suffering of our
most loved ones … can be … a school of life … and especially
when illness is accompanied by prayer and the fraternal, affectionate
closeness of families. The Christian community is well aware that the
family, during the trials of sickness, must not be left alone. …
This Christian closeness of family to family, is a true treasure for
a parish: a treasure of wisdom, that helps families in difficult
moments and enables them to understand the Kingdom of God more
clearly than through words”.

Vatican City, 10 June 2015 (VIS) –
The director of the Holy See Press Office, Fr. Federico Lombardi,
S.J., gave a briefing this morning on the work of the tenth meeting
of the Council of Cardinals, which began on Monday and concluded this
morning in the Domus Sanctae Marthae. The Holy Father attended all
the sessions, both morning and afternoon, on Monday and Tuesday;
however as usual he did not participate in this morning's session due
to the Wednesday general audience.

Cardinal Laurent Mosengwo Pasinya was
unable to attend the meeting.

The first day was dedicated largely to
the examination of the draft Preamble of the new Constitution, which
will be further elaborated.

With regard to financial and economic
reform, Cardinal Pell, prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy,
presented a report with updated information on the financial reforms.
He mentioned the appointment of the new Auditor General, the approval
of the new Statute for Pension Funds and the completion of the list
of bodies subject to the control and supervision of the Council for
the Economy, in accordance with its Statutes. He also referred to
three new initiatives of the Council for the Economy, constituting
three working groups: one for the analysis of income and investments;
one for human resources management, and a third for the study of the
existing IT systems, their compatibility and their efficiency. He
concluded by reporting on the progress of the various current
activities of the Secretariat for the Economy.

In the afternoon session of 8 June
2015, the Council of Cardinals received a report from Cardinal Sean
Patrick O'Malley, OFM Cap. with a proposal for the Holy Father
regarding allegations of the abuse of office by a bishop connected to
the abuse of minors, originally prepared by the Pontifical Commission
for the Protection of Minors. Cardinal O'Malley’s report also
included a proposal regarding allegations of sexual abuse of minors
and vulnerable adults by clergy.

For each proposal, the report indicated
the general terms which define it, issues relating to procedure and
to the competent Tribunal, as well as the advantages of the proposal
compared with other possible solutions. The text concludes with a
list of five specific proposals made to the Holy Father, which are
listed below. It is proposed that:

1. because the competence to receive
and investigate complaints of the episcopal abuse of office belongs
to the Congregations for Bishops, Evangelisation of Peoples, or
Oriental Churches, there is the duty to report all complaints to the
appropriate Congregation;

2. the Holy Father mandate the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to judge bishops with
regard to crimes of the abuse of office when connected to the abuse
of minors;

3. the Holy Father authorise the
establishment of a new Judicial Section in the Congregation for the
Doctrine of the Faith and appointment of stable personnel to
undertake service in the Tribunal. The implementation of this
decision would follow consultation with the prefect for the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith;

4. the Holy Father appoint a secretary
to assist the prefect with the Tribunal. The secretary will be
responsible for the new Judicial Section and the personnel of the
section will also be available to the prefect for penal processes
regarding the abuse of minors and vulnerable adults by clergy. This
appointment will also follow the consultation with the prefect of the
Congregation;

5. the Holy Father establish a
five-year period for further development of these proposals and for
completing a formal evaluation of their effectiveness;

The Council of Cardinals agreed
unanimously on these proposals and resolved that they be submitted to
the Holy Father, Pope Francis, who approved the proposals and
authorised the provision of sufficient resources for this purpose.

In the morning of 9 June the Council of
Cardinals heard a report given by Msgr. Dario Vigano, director of the
Vatican Television Centre and president of the Commission for Vatican
communications instituted by the Holy Father Francis on 23 April 2015
(made public on 30 April), and expressed its unanimous approval of
the feasibility study conducted by the same Commission.

Starting from the analyses and reports
of McKinsey and the previous commissions (COSEA and the Vatican Media
Commission chaired by Lord Chris Patten), the current Commission
presented a plan for reform to be implemented over a four-year
period, ensuring the protection of staff and a gradual integration of
institutions. These are the Pontifical Council for Social
Communications, the Holy See Press Office, Vatican Radio, the Vatican
Television Centre, the Osservatore Romano, the Photographic Service,
the Vatican Publishing House, the Vatican Typography and the Internet
Office.

The Council of Cardinals expressed a
positive judgement to the Holy Father, also in relation to the
expected time span. The constitution of the dicastery will be
drafted, and the necessary appointments made during the coming months
to enable the process to be initiated. The Commission is currently
continuing its work, which has yet to be completed.

On Wednesday morning, the Council heard
a communique from Fr. Michael Czerny of the Pontifical Council
“Justice and Peace” regarding the Holy Father's new encyclical
and the preparation for its publication. Fr. Czerny explained that,
at the Pope's behest, emails will be sent, introduced by a letter
from Cardinal Turkson, to inform ordinaries throughout the world of
the upcoming publication of the encyclical and to provide suggestions
and assistance on the teaching and previous interventions by the Pope
on the theme of the environment. It is hoped that this will allow
individual bishops and episcopates to prepare for the new document
and to accompany it with appropriate explanations and comments, so as
to ensure that the publication of the encyclical is experienced as an
important event in the life of the universal Church and in communion
with the Holy Father.

The next meeting of the Council of
Cardinals is scheduled for 14 to 16 September.

Vatican City, 10 June 2015 (VIS) –
This morning Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, secretary for
Relations with States, and the U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See,
Kenneth F. Hackett, signed an historic agreement between the Holy See
(acting also in the name of and on behalf of Vatican City State) and
the United States of America to improve international tax compliance
and the exchange of tax information in view of the U.S. Foreign
Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA).

This agreement – which is the first
formal intergovernmental agreement between the Holy See and the
United States – underscores the commitment of both parties to
promote and ensure ethical behaviour in the financial and economic
fields. In particular, this agreement will prevent tax evasion and
facilitate the compliance of fiscal duties by those U.S. citizens who
conduct financial activities in Vatican City State.

Ensuring the payment of taxes and
preventing tax evasion are of crucial economic importance for every
community since adequate tax revenues and public spending are
indispensable for governments to become instruments of development
and solidarity, to encourage employment growth, to sustain business
and charitable activities, and to provide systems of social insurance
and assistance designed to protect the weakest members of society.

In a context of economic globalisation,
it is therefore essential to strengthen the exchange of information
with the view to prevent tax evasion. The present agreement is thus
based on the most up-to-date global standards to curtail offshore tax
evasion through the automatic exchange of tax information.

Vatican City, 10 June 2015 (VIS) –
Msgr. Fernando Chica Arellano, head of the Holy See delegation at the
39th session of the Conference of the FAO (United Nations Food and
Agriculture Organisation), being held in Rome from 6 to 13 June,
spoke this morning at the seventh plenary session dedicated to the
theme “Breaking the cycle of rural poverty and hunger by
strengthening rural resilience: social protection and sustainable
agricultural development". Tomorrow in the Vatican the Holy
Father will receive in audience the 450 attendees of the Conference.

“The member States and various
intergovernmental institutions who work in the sector of development
and cooperation keep a close eye on the FAO and its activities, as
does civil society in its different and valuable forms of
organisation. The work that this organisation is called upon to
undertake, in the present and in the near future, in the various
regions of the world, must be focused on this reality”, affirmed
the prelate. “This requires extra effort: in facing the problems of
the rural world and the needs of those who suffer from hunger and
malnutrition it is also necessary to consider the condition of
agricultural workers and their earnings, but without forgetting that
the agricultural worker is not solely an economic subject. He or she
is a person capable of participating in decision-making regarding
production, conservation and distribution of the fruits of the land”.

“Therefore, more than sustainable
development, it would be far more incisive and coherent to speak
about sustainable human development, or rather a development that
places at the centre the human person, with his or her real
capacities, limitations, peculiarities and needs, both individually
and as a family. If the economic parameters do not take all this into
account, the resulting damage is clear and irreparable, for greater
progress can never be equivalent to less humanity. An ethical and
human vision of development requires us instead to share resources,
strategies and financing, but above all reminds us of the urgency and
importance of solidarity as well as determination to put an end, once
and for all, to the underdevelopment of the rural world. The
Organisation may then continue to be the competent 'centre' for the
gathering, study and dissemination of information on agriculture,
production methods and regulations, as its Constitution stipulates
and as is justly expected of it at all levels”.

“The Holy See delegation wishes here
to reaffirm the willingness of the Catholic Church, in her structures
and organisational forms, to contribute to this effort”, concluded
Msgr. Chica Arellano.